“Two Words, Jackass: #YOLO”: “Vlogtober,” and the “Poetry” of YouTube

“whether or not you think poetry has adapted itself to the internet in general (with online lit mags, sites like htmlgiant, ebooks, and more writers with blogs), i’ll assert that poetry has not really adapted to social media in any major way beyond that. and maybe it doesn’t need to, but i’m curious what could be achieved if it did” –Steve Roggenbuck

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Two words, Jackass: Define poetry.

Can you?

Is this question otiose?

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October is almost over ): , and with it Vlogtober.

What’s “Vlogtober”? Vlogtober is a celebration / challenge month for video bloggers to post a video everyday, like on YouTube. It’s sorta like NaNoWriMo (write a novel in a month [November]), but videos instead of a novel.

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Steve Roggenbuck, internet poet wonderboy, participated in Vlogtober, along with his pal and fellow internet lit-ster Daniel Alexander.

Their videos are “poetry,” allow me to suggest.

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E.g.,

Carpe diem-ish Steve Roggenbuck “poem video”: make something beautiful before you are dead

(This video is not from “Vlogtober,” but it’s his most popular, I think, and seems like the best introduction to the idea of YouTube / video / internet poetry IMO.)

Exploratory and posi Alexander “poem video”: Explore, Create, Live

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Comment regarding Roggenbuck’s video:

Eregorg

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As lit fans, we hear a lot about the death of the book; we don’t hear as much about the rise of the vlog.

New media is exciting for poetry. The internet isn’t sucking kids’ attention away from poetry; it’s just packaging it in a new box.

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“Carpe diem” was a Latin phrase meaning “seize the moment.” #YOLO is an internet phrase meaning, in essence, the same thing.

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What could be achieved if #YOLO wasn’t seen as a stupid trend but as a modern version of “carpe diem”?

Could poetry be made out of #YOLO?

Watch the videos I linked and decide for yourself.

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“Welcome to the internet // You logged on // You are here and alive on the internet.” -Daniel Alexander